Amid the hustle and bustle on the nine floors of the Virginia General Assembly building in Richmond, about 75 representatives from NASA and the aerospace industry spoke to every single member during a two-day awareness campaign called Aerospace Day 2014.

In small teams, they moved from office to office, expressing thanks and noting the impact of the aerospace industry in Virginia --$36.4 billion, 28,110 high-paying jobs, $57.5 million in state tax revenues and a highly skilled workforce.

"There's only one word we can use to describe the impact that Wallops and NASA have had, it's 'Wow.'" said Sen. John Cosgrove. "It's just amazing ... we're just so excited. We take pride for being in your corner and supporting you."

House Speaker William Howell spoke about being at the launch of STS-135 in 2011. Sitting by his side, astronaut Dottie Metcalf-Lindenburger shared that she was also there as a 'Cape Crusader,' preparing the shuttle for the crew.

Metcalf-Lindenburger also spoke with two Virginia classrooms through distance-learning sessions about her 2010 flight to the International Space Station on the space shuttle Discovery, and the "new forefront" that will be achieved through the first flight of the agency's Orion spacecraft this September.

Sen. Lynwood Lewis recalled taking his eight-year-old son to a launch this year at NASA's Wallops Flight Facility. After the launch, someone from NASA told his son: "Things here will never be the same." Lewis, a native of Virginia's Eastern Shore, responded: "I think he is right."

In Del. Rob Bell's office, Chris Carter said the organization for which he is deputy director - the Virginia Space Grant Consortium - has "touched every house and senate district."

Former Virginia Aerospace Science and Technology Scholars student and high school senior Alex Hsain, said she "genuinely hopes that programs like these will be offered to other students in the future."

In a later meeting, Del. Tom Rust expressed "no doubt" that NASA and the aerospace industry are an asset to the state.

Other conversations touched on making aircraft more efficient and safe, the development of space technologies to enable exploration beyond low Earth orbit and science missions that inform policy makers.

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NASA and Virginia Come Together to Talk Aerospace (with video)